3. Out of Mana

I woke up to the sound of lots of bells. It was probably around midday. After sitting up and having a stretch, I looked around, not recognizing where I was. No one else was in the room.

When did I fall asleep? Having another look around, I saw that I was on a sofa, and there was a big table nearby... Ah, that’s right... This was my personal lab, and Lord Tris, Lord Glen, and I were investigating my Skill. As soon as I made a tenth seed, my body suddenly felt heavy and I fainted... Or rather, fell asleep. Was that normal?

As I tilted my head in thought, the door opened with a click. It was Lord Tris, carrying a bunch of things.

“Oh, great! You’re up! I brought you a sandwich from the dining hall.” Saying that, he set the plate with the sandwiches, two cups, and a jug of water on the table. He then filled the cups. Tempted by the sandwich, I walked over and sat in a chair.

“Now, let’s eat!” he said, sitting in the chair across from me.

“Thank you,” I said, giving a short prayer to the earth god before picking up a sandwich. It was about one-fourth the size of a normal one, and it was filled with lettuce, sauce, and chicken.

I was drooling, but since I didn’t know sandwich-eating manners, I observed Lord Tris first. He just shoved it in his mouth, though, so I did the same. It was delicious! The crunchy lettuce and the salty-sweet sauce-covered chicken went well together. Mmmm!

The sandwiches were tiny, but I was full from just a single one. As I had a drink, I realized Lord Tris was staring at me. After that, he poked his own forehead. I wasn’t sure what he was trying to tell me.

“After you made a tenth seed, you ran out of mana and fell straight asleep, like this,” he said, mimicking slamming his head against the table.

“Huh?”

“Skills use up mana. When you get low, you start to get tired. And when you’re completely out, anyone would just conk out like that.”

While I listened to his explanation, I felt my forehead, and realized there was a bump there.

“Made a real good thunk.”

It didn’t hurt, but it didn’t feel nice either. I furrowed my brow, while Lord Tris looked at me worriedly.

The door clicked open again, and in came Lord Glen. “Looks like you’re awake again. And Tris is here, great.”

“How’d it go?”

Giving me his usual gentle, angelic smile, Lord Glen sat down in the chair beside me.

“Cutting straight to the chase, we’re going to be cutting Chelsea’s Skill research time down for now.”

I tilted my head, not knowing why things were changing so suddenly.

“As it is, Chelsea, your total mana is less than that of a three-year-old.”

“What!?” Less than a three-year-old... But I was twelve!

“If we’re going to keep studying your Skill, first, we’re going to have to seriously focus on increasing your mana pool,” explained Lord Glen, pausing to look in my face. “Actually, do you even know what mana is, Chelsea?”

What mana is...? I knew it was in your body, but I didn’t really feel it. I shook my head at his question.

“They never taught you, huh.”

I’d been cleaning the manor for as long as I could remember. I never went to school like common children, or got to study with private teachers like Lady Margaret. I was taught how to read, write, and do basic math by the old gardener, the chefs, and maids. They excused it by saying I’d need to be able to read the cleaning products’ names and directions, but now that I thought about it, they were probably doing it for my sake.

“After talking with the higher-ups, we’ve decided that other than Skill research time, Chelsea needs time to grow her mana pool and study.”

Did that mean that I’d be allowed to learn stuff...? I blinked at Lord Glen.

“I’ll be teaching her. Which means, Tris, you’re going to have some free time.”

“Sounds like it.”

“You’ll be helping out the Chief.”

“Y-You don’t mean... Paperwork!?” Lord Tris bemoaned.

“No, you’ll be working the fields.”

“Really!? That’s perfect!” he cheered, raising both hands in the air.

But wasn’t field work hard? I tilted my head confusedly at Lord Glen, and he gave me another pat.

“Tris has the [Earth Magic] Skill, so he’s good at working in the fields.”

“Yep! It’s great, seein’ all the crops lively from my magic!” Lord Tris’ eyes sparkled. He must have really loved working out there.

“So for today, Chelsea will have the rest of the day off, while Tris...” Lord Glen started.

“I can go to the fields, right? Got it! See ya, Miss Chelsea!” Lord Tris said quickly before leaving the room with a skip in his step.

“No, err... I was going to tell him that he’d be starting in the fields tomorrow, so he’d have today off, but...” Lord Glen mumbled, watching after him with a conflicted look on his face. “Whatever. Since he’s gone, we can talk about something else.”

What would we talk about? He looked really serious, so it must have been important. I sat myself up, looking at him.

“I did it yesterday in the carriage, but I want to heal your wounds today.”

My hands shot to the bump on my forehead from when I whacked it against the table when I ran out of mana.

“Other than your forehead, you’ve got lots of other cuts and bruises, right? Since I used [Appraisal], I know all about them.”

Since he’d appraised my Skill too, I wasn’t surprised to find out that he knew about everything else.

“I’m going to heal everything, but I’ve got one request, okay?”

I nodded.

“I dunno if you trust me or you’re just pure-hearted... I’d think you’d ask what’s going to happen before you’d agree...” He was muttering something with a strained smile. I was about to ask what he said, but he shook his head at me lightly. “I’m going to be healing all of your status ailments too, but my request is for you to keep this all a secret.”

“Okay.” I nodded, lower this time. I didn’t know why he’d want me to keep it a secret, but if he wanted me to, I would.

He gave me another gentle smile, patting my head once again. “It’ll probably be pretty bright, so you should close your eyes.”

I immediately did as he asked.

“...I know I was the one to ask, but she just closed her eyes that easily while alone in a room with a man... I’m worried for her future...! Maybe I should teach her that kind of thing, too...” He was muttering again, but I didn’t catch any of it.

“Heal all of her wounds and status ailments — [Cure]!”

The moment he cast it, it felt like a wind started blowing through my body. It’d stumble and stop in places, but it eventually faded.

“You can open your eyes now.”

Opening them slowly, I saw Lord Glen’s dazzling face in front of me.

“How do you feel? Anything off?”

Spurred by his words, I touched my forehead, only to feel no bump. I could move my arms and legs like normal, but they seemed even lighter than before.

“I don’t...think so,” I replied.

“Have your maids check out your wounds when you get back to your room. I’ll walk you there,” Lord Glen said, getting up.

Though the lodging house was really close, I was really tired. I thought I’d fall asleep walking.

“Are you okay?” I could hear Lord Glen asking me, but I couldn’t answer. I felt something hold my hand, though. It was warm... Holding someone else’s hand is so comforting...

While I was spacing out, we reached my room. Right as soon as we walked in, Lord Glen explained things to Gina and Martha, “I had a healer use [Cure] on Chelsea. Her wounds should all be healed, so check for me.”

“As you wish.”

“Other than that, she had a bunch of bad status ailments like Inhibited Growth, so they cured those as well. There might be some big changes, so just watch out.”

“It seems like she’s already falling asleep...”

“Yeah. It might be a side-effect of healing those status ailments. Take care of her.”

Gina and Martha bowed deeply to him. They were talking about something, but I was so sleepy, I didn’t catch any of it. Just as I was about to collapse, Lord Glen caught me. After that, he just lifted me up, but I couldn’t move.

“I’m...sorry...”

I managed to squeeze out an apology, but I couldn’t stay awake any longer. His face was so close. Idly thinking that his dark blue hair was sparkling, I fell asleep.